2026 Isle of Man TT: Qualifying delay expected after red flag in first practice

A delay to Monday afternoon’s first qualifying sessions at the 2026 Isle of Man TT is expected following a red flag in untimed practice.

The 2026 Isle of Man TT kicked off on Monday morning under perfect conditions, with the newcomers setting off at around 10:45am local time.

This was followed by the Supersport and Sportbike class, with Sidecars and Superbike/Superstocks having sessions into the early afternoon.

All sessions so far have been untimed, with the first time sessions originally scheduled for 2:15pm local time.

However, a red flag with around 10 minutes of the final untimed session for Superbike/Superstock is set to cause some disruption to the timetable.

A statement from the TT noted that it was dealing with an incident at Parliament Square.

A brief statement from the TT read: “A red flag has been issued and the session has been stopped.

"Race Control are currently managing an incident that occurred at Parliament Square, Ramsey," it added.

"A further update will be issued in due course.

"Please remember all roads remain closed around the TT Mountain Course until a further update is provided. For the safety of yourself and others you must not enter closed roads as there may still be vehicles moving around the course."

The original qualifying schedule for Monday was due to begin at 2:15pm with Supersport/Sportbike.

The Sidecars were then set for a 3pm session, before the day concluded with Superbike/Superstock at 3:55pm local time.

Qualifying is due to continue on Tuesday evening from 6:30pm, with running taking place on Wednesday afternoon and the evening.

Thursday is now scheduled to be a rest day, though can be used as a contingency session of needed by the organisers.

Practice week is set to conclude on Friday from 10:30am local time, with racing beginning on Saturday with the first contests for the Superstock and Sidecar classes.

The big news out of the TT on Monday so far has been confirmation that Michael Dunlop will ride Honda machinery in the Superbike class.

He had originally intended to compete with the Ducati V4 Panigale, but needs more development time on what he has described as a full World Superbike-spec machine.

Dunlop will campaign a Honda in the Superbike class and a BMW in the Supestock races.